[free-sklyarov] Salon: LoC DMCA review: "impact on consumers appears to be minimal"

[Karsten M. Self]

Damien Cave at Salon:
Copywrong?
http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/08/31/dmca_report/print.html

Damien reports on the Library of Congress's review of the DMCA

    Just as the office's previous report -- focusing specifically on
    Section 1201 -- concluded that public anti-circumvention concerns
    were focused too far out in the future to warrant immediate
    legislative action, Wednesday's tome also argued against the call
    for reform. Even as hackers worldwide launch protests for a Russian
    programmer who was indicted for unlocking e-book security, and ISPs
    daily struggle with how to decide when Web sites violate the law,
    and a magazine publisher is in the middle of appealing an injunction
    that prohibits distribution of DVD-cracking code, the study's
    writers argue that "the actual impact on consumers appears to be
    minimal." Congress, the report declares, already dealt with the
    subject at length over a period of three years while crafting the
    law, and "the impact of section 1201 on fair use and other copyright
    exceptions is outside the scope of this Report."

Just what, exactly, is the LoC's 1201(a) obligation in reporting on the
DMCA and its impacts?

Seems to me the LoC's neglected its oblications under items (iii) below.


  (C) During the 2-year period described in subparagraph (A), and
      during each succeeding 3-year period, the Librarian of Congress,
      upon the recommendation of the Register of Copyrights, who shall
      consult with the Assistant Secretary for Communications and
      Information of the Department of Commerce and report and comment
      on his or her views in making such recommendation, shall make the
      determination in a rulemaking proceeding for purposes of
      subparagraph (B) of whether persons who are users of a copyrighted
      work are, or are likely to be in the succeeding 3-year period,
      adversely affected by the prohibition under subparagraph (A) in
      their ability to make noninfringing uses under this title of a
      particular class of copyrighted works. In conducting such
      rulemaking, the Librarian shall examine -

      o (i) the availability for use of copyrighted works;

      o (ii) the availability for use of works for nonprofit archival,
	preservation, and educational purposes;

      o (iii) the impact that the prohibition on the circumvention of
	technological measures applied to copyrighted works has on
	criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or
	research;

      o (iv) the effect of circumvention of technological measures on
	the market for or value of copyrighted works; and
	(v) such other factors as the Librarian considers appropriate.

  (D) The Librarian shall publish any class of copyrighted works for
      which the Librarian has determined, pursuant to the rulemaking
      conducted under subparagraph (C), that noninfringing uses by
      persons who are users of a copyrighted work are, or are likely to
      be, adversely affected, and the prohibition contained in
      subparagraph (A) shall not apply to such users with respect to
      such class of works for the ensuing 3-year period.

Cheers.

-- 
Karsten M. Self <kmself at ix.netcom.com>          http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
 What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?             There is no K5 cabal
  http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/               http://www.kuro5hin.org
   Free Dmitry! Boycott Adobe! Repeal the DMCA!    http://www.freesklyarov.org
Geek for Hire                        http://kmself.home.netcom.com/resume.html
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 232 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://frotz.zork.net/pipermail/free-sklyarov/attachments/20010901/cbb7e8e8/attachment.pgp